There
are two lady friends of mine, good friends whom I’ve known for many
years: Maura and Marina. Both were accountants, with good jobs and a
nice lifestyle; great party goers and very popular. Then one day
Marina announced to us all that she was going to leave everything and
enter the Poor Clare convent, in my home-town. The Poor Clares are an
order of contemplative sisters, which means they dedicate their lives
to prayer. They don’t leave the convent, except for things like
visits to the doctor, or to vote. Otherwise they spend the rest of
their lives in the convent praying for all of us. People from all
over the city and beyond continually go into them asking them to pray
for different intentions. About two years later, my friend Maura did
the same thing. This meant that they would give up their job and
salary, their independence and nice lifestyle and also the chance to
get married and have children. Marina’s family were very upset when
she decided to do this, even though they were a very religious family
themselves. In spite of their faith they found it very hard to
accept. It is an extraordinary calling and one of great sacrifice.
Six
year later, Marina made her final profession, taking the vows of
poverty, chastity and obedience. Two years after that, Maura, my
other friend, did the same thing. They will spend the rest of their
lives in that convent praying and interceding for people, helping us
by the sacrifice of their lives.
Every
time a man is ordained to the priesthood, he also dedicates his life
to God and to service of his people. He gives up the chance to be
married and have children.
It’s
not only Religious people who do this, many other friends of mine who
are married have also changed the direction of their lives and begun
to live more closely to God, trying to give time each day to prayer
and to living out the faith that they believe in. They continue to
work just as before, but they have begun to make a conscious effort
to live by the Gospel they believe in and this happens all the time.
Why
did my two friends decide to leave everything and spend the rest of
their lives in a convent? Many people consider it is a total waste of
a life. The Church says it is the highest calling that God can give
to anyone, but what makes someone want to do this, or to become a
priest, or to really try to live out their faith?
The
answer is that they have found the hidden treasure, the pearl of
great price that Jesus talks about. They have recognized that it is
worth everything and so they have given everything for it. It is what
Jesus often calls ‘The kingdom of heaven’. In other words it is
the discovery, or realization that God is real and that what Jesus
has told us about God, is true. It is as if this suddenly clicks into
place and they can see it and it makes sense. They realize that God
isn’t just an optional extra, but that God is at the center and we
are a part of his world. We are the optional extra. We are the ones
who would not be here except that God created us. God is at the
center of everything and our life only makes sense in relation to him
and in relation to what Jesus told us about him. Apart from God, our
life makes absolutely no sense. To come to know this is worth
everything, because it is the truth.
Just
because someone finds this treasure, as Jesus calls it, doesn’t
mean that they have to become a priest or Religious. Most people are
not called to be priests or Religious, but to continue on as normal
in society, working, having families and giving witness to the
reality of God by the way they live. That’s what most of us are
called to, but the fact that some people are prepared to live a life
dedicated to God, shows the value of what they believe in, of what we
believe in. It testifies to the fact that what we believe in has a
greater and more lasting value than anything we can know in this
world. It’s a sign that we believe there is more to come and that
it’s worth waiting for, suffering for and making sacrifices for.
That is also one of the ideas of celibacy, or the vow of chastity.
People decided to give up the possibility of marriage, because they
believe in the world to come. It is a sign of our faith in the next
world, because that is how we will be in the next world.
God
created us so that the most natural thing for us to do is to get
married and what could be greater than what God has designed? But God
has also called some to live in a particular way, to encourage and
remind others that there is more to this life than meets the eye.
Often
when I’m finding it tough going and wondering why I’m a priest or
what it’s all about, I think of my two friends in the Poor Clares
and their witness makes me say yes, it is worth the effort.
The kingdom of heaven
is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds
and hides again,
and out of joy goes and
sells all that he has and buys that field.
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